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"Liars often set their own traps."

-- Aesop

News and Opinion

After Denying Massacring Civilians Seeking Aid, Israel Routinely Massacres Civilians Seeking Aid

At the beginning of this month, Israel and its apologists ferociously denied claims that IDF troops had fired upon civilians seeking aid at a Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) site, killing 31 people.

On the second of June, Israeli forces again opened fire on civilians seeking aid in Gaza, killing three people and injuring more than 30.

On June 3, Israeli forces again opened fire on civilians seeking aid, reportedly killing at least 27 people.

The US/Israeli-backed GHF temporarily suspended operations after this spate of mass shootings.

On June 8, Israeli forces again fired upon civilians seeking aid at two separate distribution points in Gaza, killing twelve.

On June 9, Israel and Israeli-backed forces opened fire on a crowd at an aid site in Gaza, killing 14.

And on June 10, at least 36 people were reported killed and 208 wounded when Israeli forces again fired on crowds seeking aid in Gaza.

Locals have called it a “death trap.”
This is what getting aid at Gaza “Humanitarian” Foundation sites looks like.

First video: Gray smoke rises as Palestinians flee in panic moments after Israeli forces shell and open fire on hungry Palestinians near one of the GHF aid access… pic.twitter.com/I452XgNkua

— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) June 10, 2025

Since May 27, some 160 people have reportedly been killed in massacres at these GHF sites, which people in Gaza are reportedly beginning to refer to as a “death trap”.

Think about how desperate and starving you’d have to be before you’d go seek food from people who you know will probably start spraying the crowd with bullets at some point. This really gives you an idea of how badly the people of Gaza have been suffering.

But, again, at the beginning of the month, Israel and its spinmeisters were crying antisemitic blood libel at the very suggestion that IDF troops would fire upon people trying to obtain food.

The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs published a deceitful video clip which it falsely claimed showed Hamas members, not the IDF, firing on the crowd.

Netanyahu advisor Caroline Glick and Israel’s “Minister of Diaspora and Combating Antisemitism” Amichai Chikli both called the reporting on the June 1 massacre a “blood libel”.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt falsely accused the BBC of peddling Hamas propaganda for reporting on the June 1 massacre.

This report is simply UNTRUE.

Israeli tanks did NOT open fire on civilians in or near an aid center.

Yet, it’s still the top headline on BBC and CNN.

When it comes to Israel, do NOT believe what they say about us. pic.twitter.com/LBKrzv69WH

— Naftali Bennett נפתלי בנט (@naftalibennett) June 1, 2025

Former Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennet shared a video clip of people in Gaza not being shot at some point and claimed this proves nobody was shot at the specified incident on June 1, saying “When it’s about Israel, all slander works.”

The Jerusalem Post published an article titled “Media blood libel over alleged Gaza aid shooting will have far-reaching repercussions.”

Israel’s official Twitter account called the reporting “Hamas propaganda”.

The Washington Post bowed to pressure and retracted its article on the June 1 massacre, saying it didn’t “give proper weight to Israel’s denial and gave improper certitude about what was known about any Israeli role in the shootings.”

Then, a few days later, CNN published a report based on extensive video analysis and eyewitness interviews which found that all evidence, contrary to Israel’s claims, “points to the Israeli military opening fire on crowds of Palestinians as they tried to make their way to the fenced enclosure to get food.”

NEW: Our investigation into the deadly shooting near an aid site in Gaza on Sunday points to the Israeli military opening fire on crowds of Palestinians as they tried to make their way to the fenced enclosure to get food. https://t.co/lXva8Gunh3

— Jeremy Diamond (@JDiamond1) June 5, 2025

Even without the CNN report, Israel’s own actions since June 1 have proved that Israeli forces do indeed deliberately fire upon starving civilians seeking humanitarian aid. Israel lied. Again.

Which should come as no surprise to anyone who’s been paying attention to Israel’s mass atrocities in Gaza. This is after all the same genocidal state which indignantly objected to claims that it would ever bomb a medical facility after an explosion at the Al-Ahli Arab Baptist Hospital in October 2023, only to bomb that exact same hospital many times thereafter while deliberately destroying Gaza’s entire healthcare infrastructure.

One of the craziest phrases you can possibly utter in the year 2025 is “Let’s give Israel the benefit of the doubt on this one.” They’ve been caught lying so many times that there is no reason to take any of their denials seriously. You don’t get to ban journalists from Gaza while getting caught lying about your actions over and over again and then have people give any weight to your denials of reported atrocities. That’s not a thing.

Israeli forces kill at least 60 Palestinians seeking food in Gaza

Israeli forces killed at least 60 Palestinians in Gaza on Wednesday, most of them as they were seeking food from a US-Israeli distribution scheme, according to local health authorities. Medical officials said at least 25 people were killed and dozens wounded as they approached a food distribution centre run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), near Netzarim in central Gaza.

Later in the day, at least 14 people were killed by Israeli gunfire as they were moving towards another GHF distribution site, in Rafah, at Gaza’s southern border. On Tuesday Israeli troops killed 17 Palestinians around GHF sites. ...

The Gaza health authorities said on Wednesday the Palestinian death toll over the 20 months of conflict had passed 55,000. The health ministry was part of the Hamas government but is staffed by medical professionals and its statistics are regarded as reliable by the UN and other global organisations.

In recent days, more and more of the fatalities have been associated with GHF food distribution. On Wednesday, a New York-based law group, the Center for Constitutional Rights, warned the GHF of its “potential legal liability for complicity in Israel’s war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide against Palestinians”.

“As Palestinians now face mass starvation, Israel has teamed up with GHF to make accessing food not only dangerous and potentially deadly but also a tool of forced displacement,” its senior staff attorney, Katherine Gallagher, said. “If GHF continues its militarised aid operations, it must be prepared to face the legal consequences, whether in the United States or beyond.”

Block the Bombs: Rep. Delia Ramirez Pushes Bill to Halt U.S. Weapons Sales to Israel over Gaza

Trump administration urges other countries to skip UN conference on Israel-Gaza war

Donald Trump’s administration is discouraging governments around the world from attending a UN conference next week on a possible two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians, according to a US cable seen by Reuters. The diplomatic demarche, sent on Tuesday, says countries that take “anti-Israel actions” following the conference will be viewed as acting in opposition to US foreign policy interests and could face diplomatic consequences from Washington.

The demarche runs squarely against the diplomacy of two close allies, France and Saudi Arabia, who are co-hosting the gathering next week in New York that aims to lay out the parameters for a roadmap to a Palestinian state, while ensuring Israel’s security.“We are urging governments not to participate in the conference, which we view as counterproductive to ongoing, life-saving efforts to end the war in Gaza and free hostages,” read the cable.

Emmanuel Macron has suggested France could recognise a Palestinian state in Israeli-occupied territories at the conference. French officials say they have been working to avoid a clash with the US, Israel’s staunchest major ally. “The United States opposes any steps that would unilaterally recognise a conjectural Palestinian state, which adds significant legal and political obstacles to the eventual resolution of the conflict and could coerce Israel during a war, thereby supporting its enemies,” the cable read.

The United States for decades backed a two-state solution between the Israelis and the Palestinians that would create a state for Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza alongside Israel. Trump, in his first term, was relatively tepid in his approach to a two-state solution, a longtime pillar of US Middle East policy. The Republican president has given little sign of where he stands on the issue in his second term.

But on Tuesday, the US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, a long-time vocal supporter of Israel, said he did not think an independent Palestinian state remained a US foreign policy goal.

Ex-U.S. Diplomat: Biden Spokesperson Matthew Miller Has "Blood on His Hands"

Israeli army officers refuse to serve in ‘unnecessary, eternal war’ in Gaza

Israel’s government is issuing “clearly illegal” orders that must not be obeyed, a group of Israeli military intelligence officers have said, announcing they will no longer participate in combat operations in Gaza. In a letter addressed to Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, the defence minister, Israel Katz, and the head of the military, the group of 41 officers and reservists said the government was waging an “unnecessary, eternal war” in Gaza.

The letter, which was shared online late on Tuesday, said the group would refuse to take part in a “war designed to preserve the rule of Netanyahu” and appease “anti-democratic and messianic elements in [his] government”. The letter’s signatories are not named but are identified as members of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF)’s intelligence directorate, which has played a key role in the 20-month offensive in the Gaza Strip, particularly through the selection of bombing targets.

Addressing the impact of the offensive on civilians in the territory, the group wrote: “When a government acts for ulterior motives, harms civilians and leads to the killing of innocent people, the orders it issues are clearly illegal, and we must not obey them.” The intelligence officers said Netanyahu’s government had given a “death sentence” to the Israeli hostages held by Hamas militants in Gaza when it “chose to collapse” the ceasefire deal in March.

The group, which is understood to include members of the elite military surveillance division Unit 8200, claimed that “many hostages have already been killed by IDF bombings” and accused the government of continuing to “abandon their lives”.Organised by the anti-war group Soldiers for the Hostages, the letter comes amid growing dissent within certain parts of the military over the continuation of the war in Gaza and an apparent increase in the numbers of soldiers who are refusing to fight.

Alastair Crooke : How Close Is War With Iran?

US Anticipating Potential Israeli Attack on Iran

The US is on high alert in the Middle East and is anticipating a potential Israeli attack on Iran, The Washington Post has reported. Amid the anticipation, the US is reducing the presence of non-essential personnel in the region.

The report said that “in recent months, US intelligence officials have grown increasingly concerned that Israel may choose to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities without the consent of the United States.” ...

The news came after Iran’s defense minister warned that Tehran would hit US bases in the region if a “conflict is imposed” on Iran. Iranian officials have previously said that they would hold the US responsible for an Israeli attack due to the US’s significant military support for Israel. ...

President Trump has also been threatening to bomb Iran if he fails to reach a nuclear deal, and he continues to publicly demand the elimination of Tehran’s nuclear enrichment program, which is a non-starter for Iranian officials.

Trump said in an interview released Wednesday that he was “less confident” that a deal would be reached with Iran. According to a recent report from Axios, Trump gave Iran a deadline of June 12, this Thursday, to reach an agreement.

Israel Plans Iran Strike As US Talks Scramble

U.S. FEVERISHLY Evacuating Civilians From The Middle East! w/ Daniel Davis

US orders non-essential embassy staff out of Iraq amid growing Middle East tensions

The United States has ordered the departure of “non-essential” diplomatic staff and their families from embassies in the Middle East amid growing diplomatic tensions in the region. The US diplomatic draw-down came as Iran threatened to target US military bases in the region if conflict breaks out, while Donald Trump said he was “less confident” about reaching a nuclear deal.

The state department said on Wednesday it had ordered the departure of all non-essential personnel from the US embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, based on its commitment “to keeping Americans safe, both at home and abroad”. The embassy already had been on limited staffing, and the order will not affect a large number of personnel.

The US is also authorizing the departure of non-essential personnel and family members from Bahrain and Kuwait. Defense secretary Pete Hegseth “has authorized the voluntary departure of military dependents from locations” across the region, US Central Command said in a statement. The command “is monitoring the developing tension in the Middle East”.

The partial evacuations come at a moment of heightened tensions in a region already aflame after 18 months of war in Gaza that has raised fears of a wider conflagration pitting the US and Israel against Iran and its allies.

Jeffrey Sachs: Ukraine/Russia Dangerous New Escalation, & the Dark Forces Pushing for War With Iran

Judge rules Trump administration can no longer detain Mahmoud Khalil on claims he’s a threat to foreign policy

A federal judge has ruled that the Trump administration can no longer detain Columbia University graduate and Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil on the basis of federal claims that he is a threat to US foreign policy. In his order on Wednesday, Judge Michael E Farbiarz said that the ruling will go into effect at 9.30am on Friday, adding: “This is to allow the respondents to seek appellate review should they wish to.”

Khalil, who has not been charged with a crime, had been deemed a threat to US foreign policy by secretary of state, Marco Rubio, prompting federal authorities to detain him in March.

In his ruling, Farbiarz wrote: “The petitioner’s career and reputation are being damaged and his speech is being chilled – and this adds up to irreparable harm.”

Despite his latest order, Farbiarz did note that Khalil can still remain in custody on the basis of federal officials’ claims that Khalil inaccurately filled out his green card application. “To be sure, it might be argued that the petitioner would be detained anyway. After all, as noted above, the Department of Homeland Security is seeking to remove the petitioner based not only on the Secretary of State’s determination – but also on a second basis, the Petitioner’s alleged failure to accurately complete his lawful-permanent-resident application,” Farbiarz wrote.

He added that his findings “have no impact on efforts to remove the petitioner for reasons other than the Secretary of State’s determination”.

China calls Lindsey Graham's bluff

Sen. Jim Justice says people “might get upset” about SNAP cuts.

No kidding.

His party wrote the bill, Trump supports it, and 3 million people could lose food assistance. Don’t try to dodge the blame now. https://t.co/FN7BtRJp4e

— Accountable.US (@accountable_us) June 11, 2025

Trump’s Fort Bragg rant: A declaration of war on the American people

Donald Trump’s speech at Fort Bragg on Tuesday was a massive escalation in his unfolding conspiracy to establish a military dictatorship under his personal control. Delivered at one of the country’s largest military bases, Trump’s hour-long fascistic and lying rant was nothing less than a declaration of war against the American people. “Those foolish enough to challenge America’s Army have been met with unyielding strength, unbreakable spirit and unstoppable, overwhelming force,” Trump boasted. “Time and again, our enemies have learned that if you dare to threaten the American people, an American soldier will chase you down, crush you and cast you into oblivion.”

The real threat to the people comes from the White House and its cabal of conspirators. So great is the crisis of capitalism that the billionaire oligarchs, in whose interests Trump rules, require the destruction of all rights guaranteed in the Constitution and the establishment of a dictatorship. The instrument of violent repression used by American imperialism all over the world will now be used at home, Trump declared: “Generations of army heroes did not shed their blood on distant shores only to watch our country be destroyed by invasion and third-world lawlessness here at home, like is happening in California.”

Describing protests in Los Angeles as a “full-blown assault on peace, on public order and national sovereignty,” he declared that they were being carried out “by rioters bearing foreign flags with the aim of continuing a foreign invasion of our country.” He concluded, “We will not allow an American city to be invaded and conquered by a foreign enemy. That’s what they are.” Trump called Los Angeles a “trash heap” of “chaos and disorder,” and described its citizens as “animals.” Trump is using the genocidal language of Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who used the same word to justify the mass killing of Palestinians. It amounts to a threat to do to Los Angeles what the Israeli military has done to Gaza.

As there is no precedent in American political history for lies and violent threats of this magnitude by a president, Trump’s diatribe may have an “I can’t believe my ears” effect. But Trump means every word. And he is backing up his words with actions.

‘This isn’t an isolated incident’: Trump’s show of military force in LA was years in the making

Donald Trump is targeting Los Angeles, the biggest city in deep-blue California – a sprawling metropolis shaped by immigrant communities that the president described on Tuesday as a “trash heap” – with a show of force many years in the making.

After his first term, Trump expressed regret for not taking a more heavy-handed approach to the 2020 protests over George Floyd’s murder by police. So when demonstrations against his immigration crackdown erupted last week in Los Angeles, he turned to the playbook he wished he had used then – federalizing the national guard and deploying hundreds of US marines to confront what Democratic officials insist was a manageable situation, escalated by a president who the state’s governor, Gavin Newsom, has warned is increasingly behaving like a “dictator”.

It’s the made-for-TV clash Trump has been waiting for: visually gripping scenes of unrest in a Democratic-run city furious over his administration’s mass deportation agenda. “Chaos is exactly what Trump wanted, and now California is left to clean up the mess,” Newsom said on Twitter/X.

Trump has said he “would have brought in the military immediately” if he could redo 2020. And, former defense secretary Mark Esper told NPR in 2022, Trump asked if protesters could be shot. “Can’t you just shoot them, just shoot them in the legs or something?” Trump asked, according to Esper.

The showdown in Los Angeles brings together longtime overlapping goals of the Trump regime: bringing state and local officials to heel; trying to tap as many resources as possible for his deportation program; and going after protesters who speak or act against him, all while stretching the boundaries of legality.

LA police filmed shooting woman point-blank with ‘less lethal’ round

Law enforcement officers have shot a woman with what appears to be “less lethal” ammunition at close range while she was walking alone near her residence in Los Angeles, new footage shot during the recent protests reveals. The video, which was taken by another woman and shared on social media, shows the woman walking down a street alone. A line of law enforcement officers appear to tell her to leave the area.

Moments later there is a loud bang as one of the officers appears to fire at the woman, who steps back after being hit and staggers away. Later she can heard saying: “I live here.”

The woman who filmed the incident runs to the victim, who is crying, and helps her sit down before moving across the street as the officers continue to shout orders. “They literally just shot her point-blank,” the woman filming says.

David Hogg to exit Democratic National Committee after months of turmoil

David Hogg, the young vice-chair of the Democratic National Committee whose vow to unseat “asleep-at-the-wheel” Democrats roiled his party, said on Wednesday that he would step away from his role.

On Wednesday, the committee announced that its members had voted to hold new vice-chair elections that could have led to his ouster.

“I came into this role to play a positive role in creating the change our party needs,” Hogg said in a statement, announcing that he was bowing out of the race to focus on his work with Leaders We Deserve, his outside political organization. “It is clear that there is a fundamental disagreement about the role of a Vice Chair – and it’s okay to have disagreements. What isn’t okay is allowing this to remain our focus when there is so much more we need to be focused on.”

Trump’s EPA announces major rollbacks to power plant pollution limits

US power plants will be allowed to pollute nearby communities and the wider world with more unhealthy air toxins and an unlimited amount of planet-heating gases under new regulatory rollbacks proposed by Donald Trump’s administration, experts warned. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) unveiled a plan on Wednesday that would repeal a landmark climate rule that aims to mostly eliminate greenhouse gases from power plants by the 2030s and would, separately, weaken another regulation that restricts power plants’ release of hazardous air pollutants such as mercury.

“We choose to both protect the environment and grow the economy,” said Lee Zeldin, administrator of the EPA, at an event to announce the plans. He said the rollbacks will save households money while also defying what he called “the climate change cult”.

The climate rule has “saddled our critical power sector with expensive, unreasonable and burdensome regulations”, Zeldin said. “American energy suffered and Americans who rely on reliable, affordable energy suffered. The good news is those days are over.”

The EPA’s proposals will go out for public comment and are likely to face legal challenges. They target a rule crafted last year by the Biden administration to phase out emissions from electricity-producing fossil fuel plants, which are responsible for around a quarter of US greenhouse gases, and a regulation called the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, which Biden toughened in 2023 to slash harmful pollution suffered by communities.

These rollbacks come despite overwhelming scientific evidence of the dire consequences of the worsening climate crisis and the harm caused by pollutants such as mercury, which can seep into water, soils and the air and has been linked to neurological damage in young children as well as heart, lung and immune system ailments in adults. Coal-fired power plants cause nearly half of all mercury emissions in the US, according to the EPA.

Drought fears in Europe amid reports May was world’s second hottest ever

It has been an exceptionally dry spring in north-western Europe and the second warmest May ever globally, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S). Countries across Europe, including the UK, have been hit by drought conditions in recent months, with water shortages feared unless significant rain comes this summer, and crop failures beginning to be reported by farmers.

The new Copernicus data shows that May 2025 was the second-warmest May globally, with an average surface air temperature of 15.79C, 0.53C above the 1991-2020 average for May. The month was 1.4C above the estimated 1850-1900 average used to define the pre-industrial level. This interrupts a period of 21 months out of 22 where the global average temperature was more than 1.5C above the pre-industrial level.

Carlo Buontempo, director of C3S at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), said: “May 2025 breaks an unprecedentedly long sequence of months over 1.5C above pre-industrial. Whilst this may offer a brief respite for the planet, we do expect the 1.5C threshold to be exceeded again in the near future due to the continued warming of the climate system.”

Also of Interest

Here are some articles of interest, some which defied fair-use abstraction.

Chris Hedges: The Rule of Idiots

DHS Chief Calls for Military Arrests in LA Protests

Solidarity Against ICE and the Entire State Apparatus

Iran Warns It Will Hit US Bases in the Region If US Launches an Attack

Judge Rules Police Raid on UK Journalist Is Illegal

Ukrainian War End Prediction

Trump says China will face 55% tariffs as he endorses trade deal

Majority of Canadians dislike US in face of trade policy and sovereignty threats

Brian Wilson, visionary creative spirit for the Beach Boys, dies aged 82

Palantir EXPOSED: The New Deep State

Trump FREAKED Over Elon Burn Book

Prof. Glenn Diesen : Does Europe Really Fear Russia?

A Little Night Music

Illinois Jacquet - Blues from Louisiana

Illinois Jacquet - Birthday Party Blues

Illinois Jacquet - Watermelon Man

Illinois Jacquet - Jet Propulsion

Illinois Jacquet and His All Stars - Uptown Boogie

Illinois Jacquet Allstars - Jumpin' At The Apollo

Illinois Jacquet Sextet - Harlem Nocturne

Illinois Jacquet - On The Sunny Side Of The Street

Illinois Jacquet - 1942 Blues